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A research study from Forrester, commissioned by the app-recommendation company Tapjoy, finds that mobile users find mobile ads annoying. No surprise there. The study (posted here by Tapjoy on Scribd) does begin on the upbeat observation that "Smartphone app user behavior creates an attractive ad environment," but then goes on to document all the ways that users find the mobile advertising experience interruptive, annoying, boring and easy to ignore.

Not quite the silver bullet for TiVo/timeshift-challenged advertisers. The news is not all bad. Heavy app users are more engaged with their devices and are more likely to buy things through their devices. And Forrester makes some very specific recommendations to help marketers take into account the particularities of the mobile experience, especially as relevant to in-app advertising (which is why Tapjoy's sponsored the report, after all.) Here is my take on Forrester's suggestions:

Understand the In-App Context: If you are targeting users inside of an app, it's important to understand how and when they use the app. The report points out that apps fall on a continuum between "lean forward" and "lean back" engagement, and any advertising experience needs to fit into the specific use case of each environment. Most people use apps sporadically and episodically during the day to fill in little bits of time. Interrupting a moment of entertainment or utility will usually backfire as an advertising opportunity.

Make It Easy, Make It Fast: Just like a good mobile app, mobile advertising needs to make the gain greater than the pain. Marketing "gestures" that a user can quickly respond to, and that promise a greater benefit for more engagement in the future, are good strategies for in-app "interventions." Limiting conversion goals to Facebook likes, email signups or coupon downloads are good starting points for building a relationship on other screens.

Create An Aligned Value Exchange: Consumers realize that advertising is one of the tradeoffs of using free apps, but that doesn't make ill-considered ads any less irksome. Forrester recommends incentivizing users to engage with ad content by making offers that "align" with the context of the given app and with the nature of the brand itself. This is an opportunity to do more than bribe a viewer for their attention, but to show them that the brand is relevant to their life.

Use Data to Make Ads Targeted and Contextual: And all that data about users collected from Facebook and other social media? Use it to match a user's interests with the appropriate offers in your inventory. Targeting can be creepy if done with a heavy hand, but relevant ads are by definition more engaging than scattershot ones—and less annoying to users. This is a delicate balance, especially when scaled and algorithmitized, but that is what is required.

Use Apps to Target Your Reach: Apps themselves are wonderful vehicles for targeting highly specific kinds of users. As Tapjoy itself says, "apps are media." Think about it, the pruning of features and scope required to make a good app also focuses the type of users that will be attracted to it. It's like 500 channels of cable taken up three orders of magnitude. There is probably a sweet spot of mid-sized apps that have particular enough user profiles, but a lot of that kind of user, that are worth building custom campaigns for.

Tapjoy just crossed the threshold over one billion mobile devices in their advertising network, so clearly this is a growing market. Although AdAge led their story on the study with the fact that "Consumers Especially Dislike Ads That Interrupt The App Experience," Forrester paints a picture filled with creative opportunities for advertisers, who have yet to really even sharpen their pencils on this challenge.